{"id":3801,"date":"2026-09-30T00:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T22:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stics.sk\/?p=3801"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:48:19","slug":"interview-with-anna-vanova-katarina-vitalisova-and-lucia-dobrotova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stics.sk\/en\/interview-with-anna-vanova-katarina-vitalisova-and-lucia-dobrotova\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Anna Va\u0148ov\u00e1, Katar\u00edna Vit\u00e1li\u0161ov\u00e1 and Lucia Dobrotov\u00e1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anna Va\u0148ov\u00e1, Katar\u00edna Vit\u00e1li\u0161ov\u00e1 and Lucia Dobrotov\u00e1 work at UMB as Project Coordinator, Deputy Project Coordinator and WP2 Leader, and Head of SILAb, respectively.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your role in the consortium, and what does your organisation specifically bring to the STICS project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMB is the leader of the STICS project and is responsible for its comprehensive management and coordination. At the same time, it is involved in seven of the eight work packages and plays a key role in creating a sustainable innovation ecosystem. Within WP2 \u2013 Innovation Ecosystem, we connect research findings with the needs of local governments, focus on identifying the transformation needs of territories, developing innovation ecosystems, and approaches to effective evidence-based management, meaning management based on data and verified knowledge, and place-based management, meaning management tailored to the needs of specific territories and respectful of their individual characteristics, in cities and regions. In cooperation with project partners, we have created inspiring collections of domestic and international examples of good practice in technical and social innovations implemented in cities and regions, in the operation of living labs, as well as examples of the use of behavioural interventions that support the successful implementation of innovations. An important part of our contribution is also the development of SILAb, the Social Innovation Living Lab, in cooperation with the Bansk\u00e1 Bystrica Self-Governing Region, where social innovations are co-created, tested, and prepared for wider practical use. UMB brings to the project primarily research and methodological expertise, experience in cooperation with public administration and in addressing local and regional development challenges, education, and the ability to connect academic knowledge with local governments, businesses, the non-profit sector, and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What have you managed to implement, develop or organise by roughly the midpoint of the STICS project \u2013 and what are you most proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the midpoint of the project, we had managed to build and stabilise cooperation within a large consortium of 24 partners, complete the preparatory phase, and move the project from setting up processes to pilot testing innovative solutions in six living labs. From UMB\u2019s perspective, we consider the progress in research and methodological work focused on the needs of local governments, innovation ecosystems, and smart territorial governance through the formation of specific living-lab-type ecosystems to be important. In SILAb, in cooperation with the Bansk\u00e1 Bystrica Self-Governing Region, preparations were made for piloting social innovations in education. A methodology for measuring the quality and impact of entrepreneurship education for young people and a competence framework were developed, both of which are to be tested directly in secondary schools. The development of the project\u2019s scientific, educational, and dissemination activities, as well as the involvement of students in solving real problems faced by cities and regions, is also significant. We are most proud that STICS is gradually changing from a project concept into a functioning environment for cooperation in which research, territorial needs, and concrete solutions meet at one table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you plan to complete and deliver by the end of the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the project, we want to complete and validate the key methodological and research outputs focused on the functioning of innovation ecosystems, the transformation needs of territories, and evidence-based and place-based public policies. Within SILAb, we plan to pilot the prepared solutions in a real-world environment, evaluate the data obtained, adjust the methodologies according to the results, and prepare them for wider use and replication. It will also be important to complete the educational activities, transfer knowledge into teaching and lifelong learning, support the dissemination of results, and prepare recommendations for local governments and public policy. Our ambition is for the outputs not to remain merely project documents, but to be genuinely usable even after the funding ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How will these outputs affect the target group, and what innovation do they bring?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see the greatest benefit for local governments and other public-administration actors, who will gain better evidence for decision-making, methodologies, and validated procedures for introducing innovations. The SILAb outputs also have direct relevance for schools, young people, regional actors, and organisations working on talent and competence development. The innovation lies primarily in the way of working: solutions are not created in isolation, but are co-created with users in living labs, tested under real-world conditions, evaluated using data, and then adjusted and scaled. STICS thus connects technological and social innovation with participation, data, and evidence-based decision-making, creating conditions in which local governments do not have to buy innovations \u201cblindly\u201d, but can first validate them in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has the STICS project brought to your organisation \u2013 and to you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For UMB, the project has brought a stronger connection between research and practice, new interdisciplinary and cross-sector partnerships, and the opportunity to validate scientific and methodological approaches directly in the environment of local governments and regions. It has also strengthened cooperation with Slovak and international partners, opened up new opportunities for applied research, education, and student involvement, and increased the visibility of smart transformation, social innovation, and regional development topics at the university. Personally, the project has given us valuable experience in coordinating a highly complex consortium, connecting the different perspectives of the academic, public, private, and non-profit sectors, and, above all, translating research findings into concrete solutions. We also highly value the new professional contacts and the opportunity to learn directly from the practice of partners and living labs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What experience have you gained in the project? What would be worth developing further, and what would you do differently next time? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project has confirmed for us that territorial innovation cannot be developed separately from the people who will use it, the available data, or the real capacities of local governments. We have gained further experience in managing complex cooperation, living-lab methodology, participatory co-creation of solutions, evidence-based and place-based approaches, and connecting research, education, and implementation. In the future, it would be useful to further develop the long-term sustainability of the partner network, systematic data collection and evaluation, the transfer of validated solutions between regions, and the capacities of the people who will implement innovations. In a similar project, from the very beginning we would place even greater emphasis on the early alignment of indicators, data needs, and links between the individual work packages, as well as on the continuous involvement of end users throughout the entire development and testing process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your view, what is the greatest added value of the STICS project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greatest added value of STICS is that it creates a functioning bridge between research, local governments, businesses, the non-profit sector, and citizens. It is not merely about exchanging knowledge, but about jointly creating and testing solutions under real-world conditions. Living labs make it possible to verify what actually works, measure the impact, adjust the solution, and only then transfer it elsewhere. At the same time, the project builds an innovation ecosystem, strengthens the capacities of local governments, supports data-driven work, and creates space for both technological and social innovation. We consider precisely this connection between actors and the ability to turn research knowledge into practical and scalable results to be its greatest value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should remain and keep working even after the project ends?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the project ends, a functioning cooperation network and trust between partners should remain. Living labs, including SILAb, should continue as open spaces for co-creation, pilot testing, and evaluation of innovations. The methodologies, data and digital tools, educational programmes, and knowledge-sharing mechanisms that have been created should continue to be used, as should the model for expanding the network to include additional local governments, companies, academic partners, and citizens. We consider it essential that validated solutions continue to be replicated in Slovak cities and regions and that innovation remain a normal part of decision-making and territorial development rather than a one-off project activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anna Va\u0148ov\u00e1, Katar\u00edna Vit\u00e1li\u0161ov\u00e1 and Lucia Dobrotov\u00e1 work at UMB as Project Coordinator, Deputy Project Coordinator and WP2 Leader, and Head of SILAb, respectively. What is your role in the consortium, and what does your organisation specifically bring to the STICS project? UMB is the leader of the STICS project and is responsible for its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3823,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t